


Whatever Happened to Porthos?

by pherryt



Series: Star Trek Bingo [20]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Crack, Fluffy, Mystery, PORTHOS - Freeform, jaylah finds a dog, trans warp beaming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-23
Updated: 2019-06-23
Packaged: 2020-05-16 20:29:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19325527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pherryt/pseuds/pherryt
Summary: Jaylah finds a curious little creature wandering the halls of the Enterprise and she endeavors to find out if it's an animal or a crewman she hasn't yet met.





	Whatever Happened to Porthos?

**Author's Note:**

> i had NO IDEAs for my free square AT ALL and then arson/candycanedarcy was helping me brainstorm.... and this came out...
> 
> this fills the free square  
> i have 5 squares left and 8 days...
> 
> plus 2 other bingos and other projects to work on.... what am i doing???

Jaylah was making her rounds around the ship, waving at her new crewmates and getting her exercise when a whine up ahead had her coming to a complete and utter halt. The whine was unfamiliar, not mechanical and though she didn’t yet know the Enterprise so well as he had her house, she was fairly sure this sort of whine wasn’t usual for it.

In fact, as the whine came again, it sounded way more organic. Was it another crewmember? Being aboard the Enterprise, and spending time on the Yorktown Starbase, Jaylah had met so many different types of beings, so many more than she had ever _dreamed_ there could be, though she’d known – obviously – that they were out there.

She hadn’t lived her whole life on that godforsaken planet, after all, and her family hadn’t been the only prisoners of Krall.

The whine came a third time, followed, this time, by some scrabbling. She hurried around the corner to see… something rather smaller than she had expected. It was tan and white and stood on four, somewhat stubby legs and had soulful brown eyes that looked up at her hopefully. Its head cocked and the ears flopped when it did. It’s tail started to wag.

Was this a crewman?

She wasn’t sure. Just last week, she’d met a rock that held the rank of Ensign. She almost thought it a joke, until it ‘walked away’ from her. Jaylah’s perception of the galaxy had certainly shifted since meeting Montgomery Scotty.

It had certainly improved.

“Hello, I’m Jaylah. What are you called?”

The little creature made a sharp sound, its tail wagging even more furiously then before. It bounded up and bumped against her legs, wriggling against her. Okay. Not a crewmate then. Probably. The urge to reach down and stroke her hand over it’s head rose and she obeyed it, squatting to reach it and laughing when she saw how happy it made the creature.

She looked up and around but saw nobody who could explain where it had come from. She stood and stepped past it. it stayed where it was, circling to look at her as she walked away. Patting her leg, Jaylah said, “Come. Let’s find someone we can ask questions of. Maybe Scotty will know.”

The creature scrambled to follow her on the way back down to engineering – she hadn’t been too far – and she found Scotty shoulders deep in a console, Keenser perched on top of it.

He fell off when he noticed Jaylah and the creature.

“Montgomery Scotty!” Jaylah called. “I have questions about this creature.”

“Wha?” he asked distractedly, his voice almost muffled by the console. The creature made that same, high pitched sound again, sharp and short, and something clattered in the console. Scotty swore and he jerked back out into the open and sat up, tugging his shirt down.

Keenser got back to his feet and was making to hide behind Scotty as the creature started growling. The creature lunged and Jaylah swooped down and picked him up. He twisted in her grip and licked her face. It kind of tickled and she laughed.

“It appeared out of nowhere,” she said. She looked back up at her friends to find Montgomery Scotty staring at the creature in disbelief and amusement. “Do you know what he is?”

“He.” Montgomery Scotty cleared his throat. “It’s a he, and _he_ is a dog. A beagle, to be exact. Admiral Archer’s prized beagle, to be even _more_ exact. Think his name is Porthos – the admiral named him after a previous beagle in the same line, I believe.”

“So, he is a pet?”

Scotty laughed, sounding slightly hysterical. “Yeah, yeh could say that, sure. The Admiral always treats his beagles like people, but yeah, he’s a pet.”

“Are you all right?” she asked.

The laugh choked, Scotty’s hand coming up to cover his mouth. “This –“ he said finally, waving at the dog, “This is impossible! He can’t be here!”

But then his eyes lit up. “But he _is_ , which means the admiral can’t be mad at me for losing his dog anymore.”

“He can,” Keenser grunted.

“Shut it,” Scotty said, glaring over his shoulder. “He’ll be so glad to have the dog returned; he won’t care about what happened to it in the first place. And stop cowering back there. What are you, a cat? He’s harmless.”

“What did you do?” Jaylah asked curiously.

“I was testing a theory on Trans Warp beaming. The admiral believed it impossible, so I went to prove him wrong – with that little guy. I thought I had it all worked out, was absolutely convinced of it. The more we argued, the more convinced I was.” He stood up, brushing his pants off. “I have to admit, now, it needed a bit of finetuning but I wasn’t thinking too clearly at the time.”

Montgomery Scotty joined her and scratched Porthos under the chin. The dogs eyes scrunched closed and Jaylah swore he was smiling. “Aww, who’s a cute, wee little dog? Let’s go talk to the captain about getting ahold of the admiral, see about getting’ ye home.” He shot Jaylah a look. “Last person he’s goin’ to give the time of day to is me – at least until I tell him the good news.”

“But are you _sure_ this is the admiral’s pet?” Jaylah asked. “And that he is in good health? Would he not be angrier if either of those things is not true and you bothered him?”

“Aye, lass, yer right,” Montgomery Scotty agreed. “We’ll have Doctor McCoy check him out. As for his identity…” he lifted Porthos’s head and checked the collar. “Aye, he’s the right dog. All right, let’s get ye checked out.”

Soon enough, Porthos was given a clean bill of health, James T. had arranged a call with the Admiral who was ecstatic to see Porthos, and a shuttle had been arranged to bring the dog back to the Admiral who absolutely refused to let his precious beagle suffer another Trans Warp trip…

Who knew where he’d end up next time?

* * *

 

**Bonus:**

The doors of sickbay opened as Hendorff approached, Dr. McCoy’s voice easily carrying through them, filled with disbelief and exasperation, and sounding absolutely done with everyone’s shit.

“Dammit, I’m a doctor, _not_ a veterinarian!”

Hendorff paused, considered the burn on his hand and decided dealing with the doctor when he was obviously irritated just wasn’t worth it. It was minor enough and he knew basic field first aid. He could take of this himself and try again tomorrow.


End file.
